The Wizard Gets the Jitters

Probably the most famous deleted scene from the film of The Wizard of Oz was the song "The Jitterbug."  Though no footage of the final number exists, a home movie taken by composer Harold Arlen during rehearsals eventually surfaced.  As if the all-star concert version of The Wizard of Oz didn't have enough...they included the scene.

I'm not a huge fan of the song.  I don't think it's at the same memorable level as the other songs in the film by E.Y. Harburg and Harold Arlen.  Mainly, it's a lively dance number that allows for a good production.  But more than that, the jazzy song is so out of sync with the rest of the score.  And it doesn't advance the plot or help define the characters.  So, I think the filmmakers were wise to cut it.

But it's still great fun to see it here, in a more appropriate setting of a concert production.  And it gets a wonderfully lively dance.  In fact, it's fun at the end to see Jewel step out from behind the microphone, after singing up a storm, to join the jitterbuggers.

What's enjoyable too is that you get to see some extended footage of all the main characters -- Jewel, Jackson Browne, Roger Daltrey and Nathan Lane -- doing a scene together.  All of which begins with Debra Winger as the Wicked Witch of the West.